By Selwyn Duke

Recently, columnist Charles
Krauthammer expressed
support for amnesty for illegals, while Newt Gingrich advocated a path
to what he called “legality.” The two men stipulated that border control must
come first, but, still, what makes these two conservatives such weak sisters on
this issue?  Perhaps part of the answer
was provided by Dick Morris, who said that immigration is a losing issue for
Republicans

Morris is no pillar of principle, but
he knows political trends.  What’s his
reasoning?  Over the short term, a
hard-line immigration stance benefits many politicians; as for the long term,
however, there’s something called demographic change.

Hispanics are the most rapidly
growing group in the nation.  In
fact, if current immigration and birthrate trends continue, they will become
America’s largest ethnic group during the next century. Fifteen percent of the
population already, they’re poised to become twenty-nine percent by 2050.

This is relevant because, while
many rationalize away the reality, a majority of Hispanics oppose tighter
border control. For example, one survey
showed that 81 percent of Latinos in Arizona oppose their state’s new
immigration law, with 70 percent registering strong disapproval.

Because of this, many
have warned Republicans against “alienating” this burgeoning voting bloc.
For instance, Simon Rosenberg, the head of a group that studies such matters, said,
“If the Republicans don't make their peace with Hispanic voters, they're not
going to win presidential elections anymore. The math just isn't there.” 

Unfortunately, the common sense just
isn’t there, either. That is, while Republicans recognize this electoral
reality, they don’t seem to ask (honestly) what’s necessary to avoid this
alienation. Because if they did, they’d realize that the new immigrants’
affinity for liberalism goes far beyond a love for porous borders.

Question: If we imported millions
of Scandinavians — who have created the most liberal governments on Earth —
would we expect them to magically change their ideology upon seeing American
terra firma?  If not, why would we expect
otherwise with south-of-the-border socialists? 
If they choose Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales types below the Rio Grande,
why wouldn’t they above it?  Geography
doesn’t change ideology.

Despite this, many Republicans claim
they can “reach out” to Hispanic voters and woo them.  This is fantasy.  Today’s immigrants, most of whom are
Hispanic, vote Democrat approximately 70 to 80 percent of the time (Bush did
better, but, surprise, surprise, he favored amnesty for illegals), and this
won’t change.  Oh, there is one way woo them:
Adopt Democrat policies across-the-board (you can remain pro-life and against
faux marriage) — favoring socialist measures and big government. 

This is, of course, why leftist
politicians love unfettered immigration so much: They are importing their
voters — socialist voters.

Now, some claim that, since
socialism is quintessentially un-American, time, prosperity and acculturation
will purge it from new populations.  This
is also fantasy.  Would you expect this
with the Scandinavians?  As for
prosperity, upper classes were more likely to vote for Barack Obama than lower
ones.  And acculturation?  The pressure today is not to assimilate but,
owing to multiculturalism, to cling to your ethnicity.

The symptoms of this abound.  We have seen new arrivals protest in the
streets wielding signs stating “Gringo Go Home” and the shocking video of
California teacher Ron Gochez calling for a Mexican communist revolt in the
U.S.  Then there was the recent incident
in which a girl was told
that her drawing of an American Flag was offensive, and another where students
were punished
for wearing American-flag clothing.  And
both of these travesties were the handiwork of a teacher or administrator who
reflects the anti-Americanism now permeating the establishment.

It also, sadly, reflects many on
the ground.  For instance, commenting on
the second incident, student Annicia Nunez, opined,
“I think they [the flag-clothing wearers] should apologize cause it is a
Mexican Heritage Day.  We don't deserve
to be get [sic] disrespected like that. 
We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July.” 
Like many, this girl draws an equivalence between American and foreign
holidays.  Don’t ask if she considers
herself American.  The only question is
if she views herself as Mexican or shows some deference to hyphenation.

And we have become a hyphened
nation, less capable than ever of assimilating immigrants.  Yet we now have more than ever to
assimilate.  While we admitted only
around 250,000 immigrants annually during most of our history, that number has
ballooned to approximately 1 million (85 percent of whom hail from the Third
World and Asia).  To paraphrase columnist
Frosty Wooldridge, the rate of immigration long ago exceeded the rate of
assimilation.

Then there is an even more
troubling factor: the consequences of taking in so many immigrants from just
one country.

In a relatively recent phenomenon,
approximately 50 percent of legal immigrants have been coming from Mexico.  And about 67
percent of American Hispanics have origins in that nation; this amounts to,
including illegals, a population of approximately 20 to 30 million — about 20 percent of Mexico’s population.  What are the consequences of such an
unbalanced immigration policy? 
University of Edinburgh professor Stephen Tierney explains them very
well in his book Multiculturalism and the
Canadian Constitution, writing:

In a situation in
which immigrants are divided into many different groups originating in distant
countries, there is no feasible prospect of any particular immigrant group’s
challenging the hegemony of the national language [press one for English,
folks?] and institutions.  These groups
may form an alliance among themselves to fight for better treatment and
accommodations, but such an alliance can only be developed within the language
and institutions of the host society and, hence, is integrative.  In situations in which a single dominant
immigrant group originates in a neighbouring country, the dynamics may be very
different.  The Arabs in Spain, and Mexicans
in the United States, do not need allies among other immigrant groups.  One could imagine claims for Arabic or
Spanish to be declared a second official language, at least in regions where
they are concentrated, and these immigrants could seek support from their
neighbouring home country for such claims — in effect, establishing a kind of
transnational extension of their original homeland in their new neighbouring
country of residence.

Note that parts of the U.S. are
already so heavily Mexican that their residents perceive no need to
assimilate.  Also note that these
immigrants have in fact received support from Mexico, as its government has
interfered in our domestic affairs and demanded they be accommodated.

Professor Tierney goes on to write,
“This fear [of cultural genocide] is often compounded in situations where the
immigrant group has historic claims against the receiving country . . . .  For example, in the Mexican-United States
case . . . .” 

In this case . . . what?  There is just such a claim.  Sure, it’s specious, but good luck convincing
the Reconquistas of this.  As pundit Dr. Jack Wheeler points out here,
Mexico’s rulers engender hatred toward the U.S. by, among other things, placing
an enormous map depicting Greater Mexico — which includes much of our land — near
the entrance of Mexico City’s Museum of National History.  Wheeler writes, “Every class of students on a
field trip from their school to the museum is made to sit down and gaze up at
the huge map, while the teacher explains how so much of Los Estados Unidos was
stolen from Mexico and really belongs to them.” 
The rationale is that all the land treaties the U.S. made with European
powers, such as the Louisiana Purchase, were illegal and that the regions thus
obtained rightfully belong to Mexico.  States
Wheeler, “Every Mexican national legally or illegally in the US is told by the
Mexican government his or her allegiance is to Mexico — not America.”

Wheeler also claims that Mexico
owes its independence to us, as we helped defeat its French overlords.  But belaboring the point is fruitless, as
reason plays less of a role in people’s decisions and behavior than many of us
like to think.  You won’t reason a person
out of ethnic and national patriotism — and citizenship tests certainly won’t
purge it from them.  Possession is
nine-tenths of the law, like it or not. 
The question is, who will possess the American lands in question — and
what will American culture be possessed of — a generation or two hence?

So not all immigration is created
equal, and Mexican immigration is unique. 
For it is not just the migration of individuals — it is the
transplantation of a foreign nation into the body of our nation.  

This is just one reason (recently
naturalized Times Square bomber types are another) I’ve long advocated at least
a moratorium on all immigration.  The people make the country and government,
not the other way around. 

Thus, a debate about immigration
policy is nothing less than a discussion about what kind of nation we wish to
be.  Will it be Mexico North?  Iran West? 
Right now we’re looking more like the Balkans. 

In fact, with a socialist voting bloc
that threatens to give us a Hugo Chavez North sometime in the future — that is,
unless current trends can be reversed — the realizing of Mexican nationalists’
Aztlan dream may not be lamentable.  A
partitioning of the U.S. may offer the only hope of enjoying a land where the
American dream lives on.

Don’t like the sound of that?  Then you’d better start reversing those
trends and initiate that immigration discussion fast — in approximately 20
years ago.  Because it’s later than you
think — about cinco to midnight for America.

   This article was first published at American Thinker       

          © 2010 Selwyn Duke — All Rights Reserved